Blink
by AmysteriousGlint
Summary: "Just remember," She said, "Even your worst days only last twenty-four hours." Rewrite of This Is Where We All Come From. Sakura/Itachi, Naruto/Hinata Rated:M, Lemons in later chapters. AU. OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**I dont own Naruto.**

Chapter One.

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" _When was the last time you did something for the first time?"_

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He honestly had no idea how he even ended up here. One moment he was across town in his office in the financial district. Filing swiftly through his piles of paperwork and making sure different things were ready for meetings that were scheduled the next day and then the next… he was here.

He didn't really know what had come over him. He could have went anywhere but for some reason he found himself venturing across the city in shitty weather to a neighborhood that he hadn't visited since he was in his early years of university. The dark haired young man cracked his neck and situated himself in one of the soft chairs that was in the back of the little quaint café that his best friend ran. The room was comforting, all in warm colors, stone floors and the chairs were patched and for just a moment he was seriously concerned about his friend's sexuality. A fireplace was lit to the left of the room with more couches and chairs surrounding it. Tables littered the room in more intimate places and a coffee table was placed in front of his and the other adjoining chair that was situated right in front of huge bay windows. He had been sitting there for god knew how long, slouched with his long fingers tangled in the lose strands of his hair.

Sitting so long he didn't notice the person who approached him and sat down next to him in the other arm chair that was identical to his. He just kept staring out the rain splattered windows and watched the vehicles rush by him.

"You know, sometimes when I'm down I come here and I just watch the cars drive by and imagine what their lives are like." A female voice said breaking the silence and his thoughts.

He blinked slowly and turned to face the person that the voice belonged too. He was slightly shocked at her appearance. She was dressed in a camo jacket that had different patches scattered all over it, fish net stockings, worn boots and shorts that looked like they had a homemade patch job. The most shocking part of all wasn't her clothes or strange style but it was the bright fluorescent fuchsia hair that was piled into a bun on top of her head. She wasn't wearing makeup though, except for the little bit of coal that lined her vivid green eyes. He let his eyes scan her, not really hiding that he was checking her out. She had a worn messenger bag by her feet that was filled with text books.

 _University student,_ he thought.

His eyes focused in on the different colored splatters of what looked like paint on her worn boots and arched one of his groomed eyebrows.

 _Art University student,_ he corrected.

Keeping his face blank he turned his attention away from her and back to the window. A purple minivan slowly drove past the establishment and he could hear the girl next to him sigh.

"For example," She began, "That minivan has a mother and her two children in it. They are extremely happy, and they are traveling on their way to the university across town to surprise one of her older children. She wants to take her child who makes her so proud to their favorite restaurant where their father will eventually attend also surprising the college student."

The man had slowly turned his attention back to the ridiculous girl and listened. His original plan had been just to look at her with an exasperated look and then get up and move. But the dreamy look on her face as she stared out the thick panes of glass had him listening to her story.

"The college student," She continued as she casted a look at him, "is from a small village to the north. It's always very rainy and stormy and it was an amazing feat for them to get into the university here. Their parents are super proud. In fact –"

"What is said person majoring in?" He asked, interrupting her.

The girl let a small smile come to her lips, letting a bit of her straight teeth shine through her shiny gloss. Biting her lip, she dramatically looked up at the ceiling in thought.

"I wanna say Drama." She said finally, adding "after all Konoha University is very well known for their drama department."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"No influential family in their right mind would agree to let their heir go to Konoha University for something as ridiculous as Drama."

The girl didn't say anything for a few moments before chuckling and shaking her head. A few stray pink hairs falling from her loosely pinned hair.

"Well," She grinned, "Those families are obviously an extremely boring."

"Please." He said as he rested his chin on his palm.

"Well let's say that this person originally went to school for something big, like accounting. But tried a Drama class for the first time and fell in love."

He blinked and let her continue.

"That woman driving that minivan is extremely proud that her child found something that made them so happy."

"That's ridiculous."

She frowned at him for a moment before leaning in close to him, their face a few inches apart.

"It's not ridiculous. Tell me, when was the last time you tried something for the first time? And loved it?"

He stared at her for a long moment, never breaking eye contact with her before he heard his best friends cough. Breaking contact he turned his attention away from the absurd girl and focused all of it on the blond haired man who was looking unsteadily at the both of them.

"Itachi." The blond nodded toward the dark haired man. Itachi nodded back before throwing an annoyed look at the pink haired girl. She just laughed and picked up her book bag from the floor.

"I'll see you later Itachi. It was quite swell chatting with you." She smiled, she waved a small wave at the blond before maneuvering around him and left the warm room.

"Who was that?" Itachi asked immediately, throwing Deidara slightly off guard. Glancing back at the exit that she had left through, he shrugged.

"Her name is Sakura. She's actually pretty cool, although she doesn't usually just sit down next to people and talk to them."

"What does she usually do?" Itachi asked, his eyes still focused on the exit.

Deidara shrugged again, and changed the topic.

"What's going on Itachi? Why are you here? You never come here."

This time it was Itachi's turn to shrug his shoulders. He had no desire to share what was going on in his mind. It was just that, his. He couldn't really answer his best friend's questions either. He really didn't know why he was there, sitting in this chair. He had no idea why he had actually entertained the pink haired girl, Sakura for as long as he did. He didn't typically do that. Usually if they didn't look somewhat normal he didn't bother with them. He wasn't his little brother, which if memory served, had a friend who liked to dabble in crazy hair colors. He didn't know why he didn't walk to his favorite watering hole instead of driving thirty minutes through traffic to this hipster hangout.

"I don't know Dei." Itachi said, after a few silent moments. "I don't know."

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It was rather normal for Sakura to walk into her house with all the lights on, with someone crashed on her couch, the television blaring and someone going through her fridge. Having the friends that she had, she had come to accept their strange tendencies. Naruto one known for being extremely lazy, he rarely ever liked to go home to his own apartment and Sasuke, well he just didn't like the restrictions of his own home. He was the only one in the small group that lived with his parents, and most of the time he liked to drop in on Sakura to get away from them. A few times he had even brought his mother over.

Fumbling with her house keys she carefully balanced the paper sacks of groceries in her arms as she unlocked the door and kicked it open. If she kept that up pretty soon she was sure that she would have to replace the old thing. She was starting to notice the dents in it. Her bad.

Rolling her eyes, she maneuvered into her clean kitchen and dropped the bags onto the kitchen island and glared at her dark haired best friend who currently had his nose in her fridge looking for food.

"Don't people feed you at your house?"

Sasuke gave her a half assed smirk before shutting the refrigerator door before heading over to the island to help her unload the groceries.

"So what are you making?" He asked as he eyed the tomatoes being unloaded.

"Chili."

He nodded and grabbed the 2-liters of soda and put them up before moving back to the island and grabbing a tomato. He winked at the annoyed pinkette and made his way into the living area. Kicking his best friend in the ass, effectively waking him up, he sat down on the plush piece of furniture.

Two years ago he hadn't ever thought that he would be sitting in the house of a girl he couldn't stand. She had had to of been one of the most insufferable girls that he had ever met. Beating the spot for his older brother's new girlfriend by like a mile. And that was an accomplishment. He could still recall the day that she had first arrived at their school. Naruto had instantly taken a liking to her but he had found her really dull. She barely ever spoke, and when she did her Japanese was so broken he couldn't stand it. Naruto knowing English a bit better than the rest of them had a better time with understanding what she was saying. He didn't actually speak to her until Naruto invited her to a party at his house. She had been quiet but eventually she had begun to laugh and open up to the rest of the group, and within a couple years her presence soon turned from annoying to welcome and they began to bond. Without even realizing it, he had found himself showing up at her house in the middle of the night after he had a fight with his older brother, and each time she would just smile and let him inside. He'd always sleep in one of the many spare rooms upstairs, and she would always disappear to the room at the end of the hallway. It wasn't until later that he learned what that room was.

He had to admit though, her house was pretty awesome and for her only being twenty-two it was impressive that she even owned a home as grand at this one. Her house was two stories, with hardwood floors. The kitchen looked like it was shaped like one that was usually featured in those American magazines that he could sometimes find lying around the house. Her video game collection and anime collection was intense along with her American television series collection, and before her he had never even heard of some of the shows, but as soon as he sat down to watch some of them he had been hooked. The same with Naruto. That could possibly be another reason as to why they both practically lived there.

He nudged Naruto again and listened to Sakura bang pans around as she looked for the specific one that she needed. He had put the TV on mute so that he could still hear her if she decided to speak to him. Typically when she cooked she just lost herself into her own world, not speaking that much unless she needed something and he was close to it. Naruto let out a loud snore and Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance.

He swore the idiot could sleep through anything.

Getting up from his spot he made his way back into the kitchen and watched as Sakura fried the hamburger and started to chop up the tomatoes. Taking a large bite out of the one he had stolen, he sat there in silence with her as she hummed a tune to herself. A small smile plastered on serenely on her face.

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The storm was fierce. He could hear wind howling and the rain slamming against his bedroom windows, typically nights like these would comfort him and lure him into a blissful, dreamless sleep. But for some reason tonight it wasn't working like that. He had stayed at the café for an hour or so after the fuchsia haired girl had left. But she hadn't left his mind since their conversation, her words repeating over and over in his mind.

 _When was the last time you tried something for the first time?_

He couldn't remember. Everything in his life was always planned. Everything was always scheduled out, every minute, every hour, of every day. He seriously couldn't remember the last thing he did for the first time. He didn't usually go out of his comfort zone to do other things. He usually did just what was expected of him and moved on. He had become CEO of his father's company at the young age of twenty-three, ultimately retiring his father from the position. But that didn't stop his father from still working, still prying into his life. He still had to deal with his father's opinions and ideas every day. Half the meetings that Itachi held, his father was there overseeing everything. Being the heir to the large Uchiha Empire was a lot of work. It didn't help that for him being the age that he was he also got a lot of publicity. Reporters always wanted to follow him around, and for a while there he had been featured in the tabloids a ridiculous amount, but that was all before he entered a relationship with his girlfriend Kimi. Well now fiancé.

Maybe that was what was making him feel like he was losing it. He was only twenty-eight, and he felt like his life was ending. He was being basically forced to marry a woman that he wasn't entirely sure about, and he hadn't been on a vacation in what seemed like years. Actually, he recalled, the last vacation he had been on was when he was twenty-two when he went to Hawaii with Deidara and Kisame for spring break. That was when he had tried surfing for the first time, and loved it. They had promised each other that they would go back the year after and do it again, but shortly after that, Itachi had graduated and started to train to take over his father's position. He hadn't been able to make that become a reality.

A sense of accomplishment came over Itachi as he crossed his arms behind his head and let his girlfriend wrap her arm around his bare chest. He finally remembered the last time he did something for the first time.

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Sakura bobbed her head to the music that pulsating through her headphones. She had been at this homework for the past few hours. She had went through at least three cups of coffee and could feel the energetic buzz shoot through her veins. She was pretty sure that she had over done the whole caffeine thing.

She dropped her pencil and cracked her knuckles before dropped her head onto the hard wood table with a soft thud. College really shouldn't be this hard, what would she ever use this type of math for? Honestly, she wasn't going to be a rocket scientist. All she wanted to do was draw and paint. Maybe be an art teacher. Last time she checked she didn't need this level of algebra for that.

"God." She grumbled into the table.

"He's not real." A deep voice said suddenly.

Sakura jumped out of her seat and stumbled and tripped over the legs of the chair before landing on the ground. Clutching her chest she shot a glare at the tall man standing over her. She growled a bit to herself as she helped herself up, annoyed that the man had caused her to fall and didn't even bother to help her up. Dusting herself off, she got a good look at him and was surprised to see that it was Itachi from a few days ago. Cocking her head she looked at him curiously.

"Who's not real?" she asked as she straightened the stool that she had been sitting on and slid back onto it.

"God. Deities. Those things." He murmured.

"Well that is your opinion. You cannot deny that there is something out there." She replied back amused.

"I can."

"You might deny it now, but someday you will know exactly what I mean." She clarified.

He stood there for a few moments, shuffling in his expensive shoes.

"Would you like to sit down?" She asked, gesturing to the vacant seat opposite from her. Without saying anything he sat down, and continued to stare. After a few moments, Sakura looked up from her papers and smiled nervously.

"Is there something you need?"

He nodded, and a few more moments passed by.

"And that would be?"

"I remembered."

"Remember what?" She asked, picking back up her pencil and trying again at the problems that were giving her the most trouble.

"The last time I did something for the first time."

Sakura stopped moving her pencil and slowly moved her attention away from her notebook to the man that was sitting in front of her. He was dressed in a crisp suit, he was definitely not from her world. She could tell by his posture and how well-groomed he was. She gently sat her pencil down on her notebook and closed it. Giving him her full attention.

"And what was it?"

"I went surfing in Hawaii with Deidara and our other friend." He said nonchalantly.

Sakura nodded and picked up her messenger bag and returned her books to it.

"How long ago was it?" she asked as she picked up her coffee and took a drink.

"About…" He paused for a moment, "six years ago."

She choked a bit and coughed and looked up at him incredulously.

"Wait. You haven't done something new in six years?"

He shook his head and glanced at the exit and looked at his watch.

"Do you have to be somewhere?" She asked and he nodded briskly. Sliding off her chair she grabbed her messenger bag and motioned for him to follow. "I have to get to work, but you can walk a bit with me."

Itachi stood there for a moment before letting a small smirk come to his lips and shook his head.

"No, I have to be across town. I just wanted to tell you that."

She paused for a moment before slowly sliding a flyaway behind her ear.

"You came all the way here to tell me that you remembered the last time you tried something new?"

Itachi stilled for a moment and Sakura watched as he went from being cool, too embarrassed, to cool again. He reached up and ran his hands through his hair for a moment before speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I came all this way to bother you. I don't know what came over me."

Sakura smiled for a moment as he shifted uncomfortably in front of her.

"You're okay." She said finally. "Maybe it's a part of you that wants to experience something."

He only shrugged.

"Well, have you ever went wine tasting?" She asked, readjusting her shoulder strap on her shoulder.

He quirked an eyebrow at her and nodded.

"Okay, lemme think." She said and clicked her tongue a few times in thought, "Have you been to an arcade? Like a legit old school arcade?"

He stood silent for a moment before shaking his head no. Sakura grinned, showing off her perfect teeth.

"Well, keep Saturday open, Ill meet you here at 7 pm don't be late." She winked and turned on her heel and left the room, leaving the dark haired Uchiha there trying to figure out how exactly he had went from telling her that he wasn't a wet blanket to making a date with her. His girlfriend wouldn't be pleased.

Looking away from the exit he noticed his best friend leaning against one of the beams, shaking his head at him.

"What?" Itachi asked, an annoyed edge in his tone.

"You're going right?"

Rolling his eyes, Itachi walked out of the café leaving his best friend laughing silently behind him and thoughts of the pink haired girl bothering him even worse than before.

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AN: Sooo, this is technically a rewrite of This Is Where We All Come From. I decided that the original story just wasnt going right, so I decided to go for a different take. I like this one a lot better.

I wanna thank Animelover171 for spotting the flaws in this. :D


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

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" _Sometimes you'll never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory."_

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The ground was soaked from the rain from the night before. Which was a good thing, her plants needed the water to grow. Looking up at the cloudy sky, Sakura scrunched up her nose, she really hoped that it wouldn't rain too much more. After all she didn't want the plants to drown. Getting up from the muddy area she made her way to the back door and picked up some of the straw that her aunt had brought over for her a few days prior. It was the best way to keep the walk ways free of weeds and to keep her shoes from sinking into the soft mud.

Every year since she was eighteen she had been planting a garden. The doctors had said that it was a therapeutic way to handle the death of her mom. But really, she only agreed to try it because back in America her mother had been obsessed with their small garden. It was the small things that really made her think back to how everything way. She still had days where she wished that she could go back and change the way it all happened, but she had finally come to terms with her death and with her father leaving. She completely understood where he was coming from. She didn't blame him. Not anymore at least. Her Aunt Tsunade had more of a problem with that.

Speaking of, Sakura smiled a bit as she heard a car door softly slam, and the back gate open. The clacking of stilettos on the concrete walkway, she knew exactly who it was. Tsunade had taken to visiting her about twice a week, significantly less than what it had been years ago. For Sakura it was an improvement, she was happy that her Aunt was finally moving on from the tragedy.

"Well this is really coming along."

Sakura nodded in response and grabbed for more straw before packing it down in another muddy area.

"What all did you plant?" She asked with a hand settling on her hip.

Sakura sat up on her knees and wiped her forehead with a gloved hand.

"Okra is right there." She said pointing to the first row, "There is two rows of tomatoes and then watermelon."

"Okra?"

"Moms favorite." Sakura smiled sheepishly.

When her mom, Caroline had first tried her hand at gardening the only thing that had even sprouted had been the Okra, and Sakura had remembered her mother trying all different types of recipes with it. Her favorite being Fried Okra. She would dip it in egg and then roll it in cornmeal before throwing it into a frying pan. Add a little salt after and that was possibly one of the best dishes that her mother had ever made. Well one of them, her mother could make some mean Chili.

"Oh." Tsunade nodded, "How are you doing? It's almost that time of year again."

"I know. I'm actually doing pretty well. I usually keep myself pretty occupied this time of year. You know, try not to dwell on it." Sakura said as she laid the last of the straw and pushed herself up off the ground. Cracking her neck on both sides, and effectively making her Aunt who worked in the medical field wince.

"That's good. I was thinking we could go out to dinner on the anniversary, if that's okay with you."

The pinkette nodded her head.

"That sounds good."

"Have you heard from that asshole lately?"

"He's not an asshole Tsunade. He's my dad." Sakura said with an eye roll as she bent down and picked up her gardening supplies and carried them to her open garage.

"Whatever. Have you?" she asked following her into the dimly lit concrete room.

She dropped the equipment into a wooden box that she always kept all her supplies in. Peeling off her gloves she turned around and faced her aunt.

"He did send me a letter awhile back." She said coolly.

"Oh?"

Sakura nodded and turned and dropped her gloves in the box with the rest of her stuff.

"I haven't responded though. It's in the kitchen if you want to read it."

"I don't wanna read anything that piece of shit excuse for a man has to say."

"Kami, tell me how you really feel." She laughed. "I'm not mad at him Tsunade. He needed to get away from here, and I don't blame him. I mean he could have done it a bit differently, but I understand."

Tsunade stood there for a moment, her hand still firmly planted on her hip. Eyebrows raised, she shook her head and walked over to her only niece and wrapped her arms around her.

"I know sweetie. But he was you're father and he failed at that in the worst possible way."

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Itachi was early. He was always on time, but he was never early. Especially twenty minutes early, and his friend was making sure that he wouldn't forget it. From the moment he walked into the café in a white t-shirt and jeans with his hair pulled back in a small bun, his best friend had been laughing at him.

"Jesus Itachi, I haven't seen you look like this since god knows when." He said, flicking his fingers at Itachi's man bun, "Does Kimi know you left the house looking like this?"

Itachi eyed the blonde owner coldly. He had seen him dress like this before, so why on earth was it such a big deal for him to dress like this now? Yeah, he had been basically been dressing in suits and nice clothes for years now because of his job, but for Christ's sake he still owned his old clothes. Although he was a lot more fit now than he was then. Then he had a six pack and now he had an eight pack. Which he only got because he had taken a hobby in the martial arts. And from the way he kept getting ogled by the females who entered the place, was probably slightly noticeable in his shirt. It did feel a bit small.

Without a second thought, Itachi ignored the stares that he was getting from the female customers, and moved into the back room and sat down on one of the chairs that he had met Sakura in. He looked around for a moment before turning his attention to the window and he began to watch the cars that passed by. Pretty soon he found himself studying the people who walked past the windows, couples were holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. Slowly he began to wonder who they were, and without much hesitation he started to think up their lives.

"I say," a voice whispered softly into his ear, "They will get engaged soon. And it will be such a spectacular event that everyone will cry, and wish that they were that in love."

Itachi blankly turned his attention to the girl. Sakura stood behind him with a cheesy grin on her face. Standing up, Itachi grabbed for his jacket and faced her. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her attention go from his face, to his chest and continued to go lower. He felt a sense of pride rush through him, and could feel himself flexing a bit.

"So we are going to an arcade?" He asked after a few moments of her checking him out. He smirked to himself a bit as her face flushed beet red.

"Yes!" She smiled, and gestured for him to follow her. He nodded as they began to walk toward the exit.

He was completely convinced that the girl didn't know how to dress normal. The first time he had met her, she had been decked out in worn paint splattered clothes. This time she was wearing the same painted boots, but instead of the shorts that she had worn the last time, this time she had adorned shiny leggings that looked like galaxy's swirling, her black jean shorts were cut off and covered in glitter and he could swear that she had somehow got ahold of bedazzler gun from years ago. This time, instead of her jacket with patches she was wearing a black leather one that only went down to a little bit above her hips. The shirt underneath, he could swear was only lace. Which made him wonder what exactly she had underneath that, he kinda hoped it was another shirt, but a part of him wondered if it was just a bra.

Outside, Sakura turned her attention to him.

"The arcade is about thirty minutes to the west side of town. In one of the older neighborhoods. It's been there for ages. So we will have to take the bus."

"I can drive." He replied to her, pulling on his jacket and reaching into his pocket to retrieve his keys. Sakura blinked a couple times before shrugging and motioned for him to lead the way. Making his way to the parking lot, he pressed a button on his key and Sakura widened her eyes as the car started itself from across the parking lot.

"Seriously?" She asked incredulously.

Itachi shot her a confused look, as he walked toward the sleep black two door vehicle.

"Seriously?" She asked again, picking up her pace to keep up with him.

"What?"

"I knew you had money, but seriously?!" She asked, gesturing wildly to the car in front of her. "This?!"

"Get in the car." He said shaking his head.

"What if I break it? I swear Ill break something."

"Get in."

"But seriously what if?"

"Sakura." He said exasperatedly, "Get in the car."

They stood there, adjacent from one another for a few moments before she answered with a meek okay. He was starting to think that this woman was possibly more trouble than she was worth. What was getting into him? Why did he even agree to this in the first place?

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"Really this place?" Itachi asked a little put out.

They had drove in comfortable silence across town for thirty minutes, past different stops and shops that his mother liked to frequent. His and his parent's neighborhoods and the whole time the fuchsia haired girl buckled into his passenger seat was just enjoying the view. She didn't really say much other than ask him how much the big houses in his neighborhood usually ran. He really didn't know what had come over him. When she had told him earlier in the week to meet her at the café once again, but this time to go out, he had originally decided to not go. He had went over every reason in the book as to why it wasn't a good idea. He was engaged, he loved his fiancé, he had paperwork to do, meetings to arrange. But for some reason, here he was. Dressed in his street clothes that he actually had to rewash because they smelled like moth balls.

"Oh come on." She laughed as she unbuckled herself from his seat and opened his car door and rushed to the entrance. He sighed and leaned his head back against his head rest.

 _Honestly._

By the time Itachi got inside the place, Sakura was already across the room putting quarters into a machine and pressing on buttons with amazing speed. Sliding onto a seat next to her, he watched for a few moments before she broke eye contact with the game and gave him her attention.

"Why don't you play?" She asked nodding her head at the machine in front of him. He sighed to himself and turned and faced the game. Taking the quarters from the pink haired girl sitting next to him, he pushed them into the coin slot and watched as bright colors lit up the LCD screen. After pressing a few buttons he began to play right along with her.

"So Itachi, what is your family like?" She asked as she pressed the blue button that made her character jump over an enemy in the game. He stayed silent for a few moments before answering.

"My mom is ridiculous, my father is the head of a major company that I work for. Well I basically do his job. I have a younger brother." He says, casting a sideways glance at her, "He is actually probably your age. Maybe you know him."

"Oh? What's his name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Seriously?" She laughed, causing him to turn his attention to her and away from the game he was playing. Raising and eyebrow he looked at her strangely. Instantly translating his look she laughed again.

"I do know Sasuke." She explained.

His eyebrow rose a little higher.

"Were actually really good friends." She continued.

"Hn."

She laughed again, it was hilarious how similar the brothers were.

"So you are the asshole older brother that I've heard so much about?"

Itachi moved his onyx eyes away from the screen and the character that he had just killed on purpose.

"Asshole?"

"Oh yes," she explained, "I don't know how many times he has crashed at my house cause he couldn't stand you."

"You sure that was me?"

"Positive." She smiled, "I cannot believe that I never made the connection until you said something. You guys look eerily similar. If you are as whiney as him though, I feel like we should terminate this relationship now."

Itachi smirked and shook his head.

"I actually have a girlfriend, well Fiancé."

At this point, she had stopped playing her game. She had already died and besides she was slowly starting to find this man sitting next to her increasingly interesting.

"What's her name?"

"Kimura, but she goes by Kimi."

"What she's like?"

"She's into fashion." He shrugged.

"Is that all?" She asked

"It's her passion I guess."

"Is that all you know about your own fiancé?" She asked with a quizzical look on her face. Itachi shrugged again.

"What is your family like?" he asked, changing the topic. But from the look on her face the moment he asked, he instantly regretted it. Apparently the topic was a sensitive issue considering her smile completely wiped itself off her face.

"My family isn't around here anymore." She said vaguely as she traced her finger on one of the machines buttons. He didn't say anything, as he watched her. "My mother passed away a few years ago, and my father thought it was best for him to move back to America then."

"My apologies." He murmured.

He felt ridiculously awkward. He wasn't really comfortable when conversations to a deep turn. Or dark turn. And talking about death was definitely a dark turn. He tapped his fingers against the machine and looked around the room. There wasn't many people there to begin with, maybe he should just end their time together, and he didn't really know what to say.

"You're okay." She said finally, snapping his attention back to her. "But you know, you shouldn't call your mom ridiculous, you never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. You should savor your time with her."

He simply watched her as her somber aura quickly changed back to her upbeat and chipper one. She laughed to herself before grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet and dragging him to a different part of the place.

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11 years ago  
Haruno Residence  
America

She really didn't want to be there.

She had actually begged her mother to let her stay home, she didn't want to get out with all the pollen out in the air. She had been miserable for the past few days because of her stupid allergies. But that didn't stop her mother from dragging her out of her air conditioned house in the early hours of the day and to the stupid farmers market.

It was their tradition. They would wake up early every Sunday morning and head to the farmers market as early as possible to get the best deals on the fresh produce there. When she was younger she had enjoyed it, but now that she was eleven, practically an adult, she really didn't see the point in it. It was annoying and she didn't want to do it anymore. And she honestly could care less how it made her mom feel. The sad look that the woman would give her meant nothing to her, seriously. All she wanted to do was stay home and not care about it. She wanted to play her games and watch MTV and talk on the phone with her friends.

"Sakura honey, hurry up." Caroline Haruno called from a few feet away.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura trudged her way following her mother.

"I know you wanted to stay home, but I had a phenomenal idea last night while watching a movie."

"Did you?" The young blonde grumbled.

Caroline ignored her as she handed a few bills to a vendor and grabbed a few red tomatoes off his stand.

"I want to grow a garden! We could do it together. It would be fun, a wonderful mother daughter experience."

She was excited, Sakura could tell. She was always trying to find different ways for them to bond. To be completely honest, from all the scrapbooks that they had made together when she was younger, she kinda felt like they had bonded enough. Sakura was now at that age where all she wanted to do was go out on her own and make her own friends, and hanging out with your mom was just not cool.

"That sounds stupid."

Her mother just smiled and nodded at the vendor before walking away making her daughter follow her.

"You'll enjoy it." She grinned.

"Doubt that."

It didn't take her mom long to gather all the supplies and hire someone to till a small patch of land in the back of their yard. She was always doing things like that, coming up with new projects. Sakura's father worked ridiculous hours so her mother barely ever saw him, and she could tell that her mother was lonely. But that didn't mean that she had to help her mother plant a stupid garden.

Months passed by as her mother tried to get her to come outside and help her work on the garden, the whole time telling her that it was a great experience. But each time her mother asked, she would turn her nose up at her and roll he eyes. Like hell if she was gonna get dirty. She had television shows to catch up on. She had friends to hang out with.

But when her mother walked into the house with a basket full of green tomatoes and the first of the okra plants. Sakura had to admit, they tasted delicious.

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"Sweetie, it has been forever since you have come and visited us." Mikoto said sweetly as she kissed the cheek of her eldest son. "How as work been? I hope your father hasn't been too hard on you."

"It's been fine mother." Itachi smiled as he placed his hand on the small of his girlfriend's back. Kimi looked up at him lovingly and pecked him on the cheek as well.

It _had_ been awhile since he had come and visited his mother. Work typically kept him busy for god knows how long, and half the time he really didn't want to visit and listen to her drone on and on about how the wedding plans were coming along. He didn't know anything about weddings, he really could care less about weddings. That was more something for Kimi to worry about. He didn't know anything about fonts, or what type of cake to get. As long as it was chocolate or something he could care less. He didn't understand why they needed to go cake testing, chocolate and vanilla was perfectly fine. Who cared about dishes? He had grown up with his mother throwing all sorts of different fundraisers, so as soon as he had proposed to Kimi and she had asked him to help her plan the wedding he sent her to his mother. She had connections, she could plan…. He… well he didn't care. He was fine with just going to a courthouse and getting married. Less people he had to deal with. The only thing he even sort of looked forward too was the bachelor party, which his cousin Shisui had promised him would involve all types of strippers and alcohol. It'd be the first time in ages since him and all his college friends would get together and just hang out and laugh again. When was the last time he laughed? The last time he had just let loose and enjoyed himself?

Kimi smiled at him before rushing off with her soon to be mother in law, laughing at whatever she was talking about, into the white living room. His father was sitting in his office in the room that was just right off the entrance hall. His glasses rested on his nose as he shuffled through paperwork, classical music drifting from the stereo to his left that was underneath the large bay window. He didn't really need any lights on with all the sunlight that was seeping through the window panes. The stairs to the upstairs rooms were straight in front of him, and through the doorway to the left of the stairs was the arch that led into the living room where he could hear the laugher of his mother. Sighing to himself he ran his tongue over his teeth and walked into the room to join in with his two women.

It wasn't long after he had sat down and was relaxing when his younger brother came into the room from the kitchen. Sasuke stopped momentarily and eyed his older brother before nodding at his future sister in law.

"Sasuke!" Kimi cried with a smile.

Itachi had to keep himself from smiling at the tenseness that came over his younger brother. In the three years that he had dated Kimi, Sasuke had never exactly liked her or spoke to her. Every time she would try to bring up a conversation with him, he would either ignore her or direct his answer at Itachi.

Sasuke forced a smile to his face and curtly nodded at the dark haired female that was sitting next to his mother.

"Kimi." He acknowledged.

Kimi's mouth formed and 'O' shape and she gaped at Itachi. Itachi just raised his eyebrow and gave his mother a confused look. Sasuke turned his attention away from the raven haired female and to his older brother.

"I needed to ask you something." He said

Itachi just kept his eyebrow in place, his face void of any emotion.

"Would it be okay if I brought a date to the wedding?" He asked, a little sheepishly.

Itachi didn't say anything, he had a rather good idea of who his younger brother's date would be. Considering he had just spent all day Saturday with her, and from the time that he had spent with her he knew that she was one of the only females that his younger brother was comfortable enough to have attend a family event with.

"Oh my god!" Kimi squealed, "Who is she?"

Sasuke shuffled his feet a little and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Sakura."

"Oh, I've never met her." She said, giving Mikoto and look of worry. Mikoto just smiled softly before rubbing his daughter in laws shoulder.

"She's a good girl. A bit different, but she's actually quite sweet. I've had dinner with her a few times."

Kimi smiled broadly before standing up and walking over to Sasuke. Sasuke looked down at her warily as she grabbed his hands from out of his pockets and smiled up at him.

"You have to bring her for brunch sometime at the club. I'd love to meet her. I mean we are almost family, and she's obviously important to you."

Sasuke only nodded and threw his brother a look that only Itachi could understand.

 _Well, shit._

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AN: I hope ya'll enjoyed it. :3

Again thanks to Animelover171 for being such a wonderful beta. Ahaha


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

* * *

" _Be crazy. Be stupid. Be weird. Be whatever. Because life is way too short to be anything but happy."_

* * *

She had been dreaming of the perfect dress ever since she could remember. She had always loved fashion. From a young age her mother had flown her all over the world just to see the latest designers show off their new lines at different shows. She had been to New York Fashion week numerous times, along with France and Italy. She had met designers, had bought their clothes and hand bags. She lived for fashion. And ever since Itachi had proposed to her, in what she thought was the best way possible, the first thing she had done was rush out and start trying on dresses.

"Oh my god." Kimi said aloud as she stood in front of the mirror. She moved her body so that she could take in all the detail of the sheer dress that she had adorned. It was definitely not the traditional type of wedding dress. And it was a far cry from the dress that Mikoto had picked out for her earlier.

"It's you." The shop attendant murmured as she buttoned the round white buttons up along Kimi's spine.

The future bride swore she was glowing. The dress was absolutely perfect, the whole thing was sheer with lace clustered in random places and also covering up her most private parts. It was fitted to her slim body, more so once they sent it off to fit her specific measurements. The straps that helped hold up the material were see through, and on top of all of that it was her favorite designers 2015 collection.

She had found her dream dress.

"Are you ready to show them?"

Kimi squealed to herself and nodded in confirmation to the attendant. Mikoto's style was not this, that was for sure, but she was sure that if she just told her how much she adored it, then she would be okay with her decision. As for the elders of the clan, well, it wasn't like they were going to be alive for much longer. They were all old as bats, and besides she knew that her wedding was going to be on the front page of several magazines. After all she had snagged up possibly the most handsome and eligible bachelor in Japan. The heir to a massive media empire. She seriously struck it rich this time.

Gathering up her flimsy skirt she followed the attendant out of the room and toward the viewing room. Her smile growing wider every foot she grew closer to them. One of her bridesmaids turned to look at her and Kimi couldn't help herself from feeling triumphant when her jaw dropped.

That was definitely the reaction that she was wanting from people. She wanted them to talk about her, wanted them to be her. Nothing was wrong with that. She was born to be noticed.

"Oh my god, Kimi." One of her bridesmaids said stunned.

"I know right?!" She squealed, "It's absolutely perfect."

The bride to be grinned at herself in the three-way mirror and took notice of her fiancés mothers face. The attendant walked up with a lace veil and placed it on her head along with a crystal barrette.

"What do you think mom?" Kimi asked, eyeing Mikoto cautiously.

The older Uchiha didn't say anything for a few moments. She just sat there on the plush couch and examined the scene in front of her. She had a lot of thoughts about the dress. She had truly hoped that her future daughter in law would have better taste than that. The wedding would be in a huge church, over four hundred people would be attending, and a lot of those people were business associates and family friends. They came from old money, old money that was turned into new money. She liked Kimi, she really did, but sometimes she honestly wondered if the match was the correct match for her elder son. Itachi had always been a quiet boy, a man of a few words, and most of all he always did what was expected of him. Sasuke had been the complete opposite, he had rebelled the moment he had got the chance. And even now, when he was twenty-two he still rebelled. Hung out with a female with vivid colorful hair, and a loud young man. But she sincerely liked them, Kimi not so much.

"I think, sweetie, that it's very revealing." She said finally.

Kimi stood in front of the mirror, with the veil covering most of her face. Lifting the veil, she turned to face her future mother in law.

"It covers what needs to be covered. And besides, the dress makes the perfect statement. I want to turn heads and be something that people talk about."

Mikoto sighed and shook her head.

 _She was definitely going to make something._

 _xxxxxx_

Sakura felt like she had been sitting in front of the blank canvas for what felt like hours, with her charcoal in her fingers. She had a major assignment due in a few weeks, a huge assignment. And out of all the times she could get artist block, it just had to be now. Groaning, she leaned her head against the easel. She needed a muse, or something to that extent. The last time she had talked to someone about what she should paint, Sasuke had just hmphed at her and Naruto had droned on for god knows how long about frogs. Toads to be more exact. She had no idea what his obsession with those slimy green creatures was, but it was annoying.

"I could draw Sasuke getting eaten by a dinosaur…" she mused to herself, half-jokingly.

Cocking her head to the side, she jutted out her lower lip and seriously started to contemplate it before shaking her head and ultimately deciding against it.

"Having trouble?" A male voice asked, causing Sakura to scream and jump. Swiveling around on her stool with her hand clutching at her chest she narrowed her eyes at the man that had a nasty habit of sneaking up on her.

 _I really should put a bell on him_ , she thought to herself as she resituated herself on her stool.

"Jesus Itachi, stop doing that." She snapped at him before turning her attention back to the blank canvas. "But yes, yes I am."

The older man grabbed a stool and pulled it up beside her and sat down. He was still in his work clothes, a simple button up collared white shirt and black slacks, and normally she would assume that he was just on lunch, except this time his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his normally neatly pulled back hair was put into a man bun once again.

"Can I help?" He asked rubbing his neck. Sakura shrugged her shoulders.

"Honestly I don't think I'm going to make any progress on it today."

"Tonight." He corrected.

"Huh?"

"It's dark." He murmured gesturing at one of the windows in the art room.

"Well shit."

Itachi only hn'd as Sakura rocketed out of her chair and rushed over to where her things were. At this point he was quite used to her randomly spazzing out. Out of the few weeks of them speaking to each other, he had noticed that she was somewhat of a space cadet. Also, she was very forgetful. Oh, and she hated Math with a ridiculous passion. Which he only knew from the few times that he had saw her at the café on his lunch hour. He had sat with her for a few minutes and explained some of the equations, her being completely surprised that he still knew how to do them considering he had been out of school for over six years. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he was somewhat of a brain. He liked math, science, actually he liked anything that stimulated his brain. On his days off he usually just put on sweatpants and played Sudoku or read a book all day. Mind you lately he had been reading text books, which could possibly be why he had been able to explain her math problem to her, he had just finished reading through his old college algebra book.

"Do you have something planned?" he asked, as he pulled out his smart phone that had been buzzing for quite some time. Kimi had went dress shopping earlier in the day and she had been trying to get ahold of him since, apparently her and her mother had disagreed on a dress and she was wanting him to speak to his mom about accepting her. He really could care less. He was much more interested in what the fluorescent haired female rushing around the room was up too.

"I do actually."

He raised his eyebrow as he pressed the ignore button on his phone, screening another call from his fiancé.

"Deidara and some friends are coming over tonight to drink and pig out on food." Sakura said, as she stuffed a notebook in her bag. Itachi looked up from his phone and focused on her. "You're more than welcome to join in." She finished with a broad smile.

She lifted the bag onto her shoulder and looked around the room checking to see if she was forgetting anything and Itachi stood up and pushed the stool back to where he found it.

"I don't have anything better to do."

Sakura grinned at him and motioned for him to follow her.

"Where did ya park?" She asked, "You are totally giving me a ride home."

xxxxxx

8 years ago  
Haruno residence  
America

Caroline wasn't entirely sure how she was going to break the news to Sakura. It had just been confirmed that Yuki, Sakura's father, was being transferred to France. She was at that age where it seemed like the whole world was against her, and Caroline understood. She had been young once. She had thought that her parents hadn't understood what it was like to be a teenager then, had screamed and even yelled at them, because they didn't understand what it was like to be in love or to have their hearts broken.

It wasn't until she got pregnant with Sakura that she realized she owed her mother and father a huge apology. It was rough being a teenager. They said that it was the best time of your life, and at thirty, Caroline could truthfully say that she didn't miss it in the slightest. She didn't miss her school where the others had made fun of her and she definitely didn't miss how immature the guys were.

She understood. The unfortunate part was that her daughter didn't realize that. And perhaps payback was a bitch, but her once easy to handle daughter had grown unruly recently. Actually she had been like this for the past few years, never wanting to spend time with her. And Caroline couldn't remember the last time that she had actually hugged her only child. It was like she hit a certain age and physical contact had been completely shoved off the table. She was lucky if she could get a fleeting kiss from her when she was leaving the house to go to the mall or heading to school.

She didn't look forward to telling her daughter that in a few weeks they would be on an airplane traveling across the ocean and setting up house in a country that she had never been too before. She felt for her daughter. She knew how frightening it was to move to another country, but when she moved to America she had been in her twenties and studying abroad.

She yearned for a relationship with her daughter again, but from the way things had been going it didn't seem like that was going to be happening anytime soon. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Caroline stopped in the middle of the hallway. Her headaches had been getting worse and worse. She blamed it on the stress of everything. With her husband going back and forth between France and America, everything was up to her. She had to keep an eye on their daughter, and with the bills and making sure dinner was always on the table. It was taxing on her, but she was strong. She had been doing it for fourteen years, and she would keep doing it for another twenty if she must. All the stress would go away when Sakura grew older and out of her hateful teenage age. Besides, someone would have to be able to know how to do everything whenever she had grandbabies.

Rubbing her temples she moved along to one of the back rooms that was littered with boxes. Sakura would be getting home in about thirty minutes, she might as well finish packing up the study and distribute the rest of the boxes in the other rooms. They would have to ship all the important things over in a week so that it would all be ready for them when they arrived at their new home. That was the worst part about moving across the ocean. Kneeling on the carpeted floor, Caroline looked around the blue study. Shelves lined two of the walls and each one either was filled with books or with some kind of model that she had built out of boredom. Some of them even built by her daughter. She smiled to herself as she reached into one of the shelves and pulled out a clumsily put together automobile. She

Remembered the day that Sakura had put it together so well. It had been raining for a straight week and they didn't have anything better to do, and Sakura had been so stir crazy having had to stay indoors. So when she had come across the models at a hobby store she couldn't help herself. They had sat together and watched Disney movies for hours, just building model after model. Looking up to the shelf above it, she grinned. The ship that she and Sakura had built was still there and still looked great and god knew how old that thing was. At least over ten years old. She probably wouldn't be able to get her teenager to build another for old times' sake with her.

With a rueful smile she grabbed a few books and placed them neatly into one of the boxes.

When Sakura got home thirty minutes later she knew that something was off. Boxes were all over the house and the family pictures that had been at home on the entrance wall were removed. Square imprints showed where they had all once rested. She didn't like this, not in the slightest. Dropping her book bag to the ground she placed her cell phone on the small table to the left of her, one of her favorite paintings had used to hang above it, but it was no longer there.

"Mom?" she called as she kicked off her shoes.

No answer sounded as she slipped off her jacket and dropped it on top of her bag. Turning right she walked down the carpeted hallway, her anxiety rising as she noticed the other pictures and paintings that had been placed on the walls all her life were missing as well.

"Mom?" She called again, this time she could hear a faint answer.

Walking into the master bedroom, she stopped short as she observed her mother throwing clothes into one of the many huge cardboard boxes. Fragile written on the sides of some. The antique dresser that her mother placed all her perfume and jewelry on was cleared off, and the bed side tables were completely cleared as well. The drawers opened and empty.

"What is going on?" Sakura asked slowly as she surveyed the room.

Her mother walked out of the walk in closet and smiled softly.

"Oh hey honey, how was school?" She asked, evading the question.

"It was fine," Sakura answered, "What is going on?"

The older woman pursed her lips as she walked back into the closet and threw a few pairs of shoes into the box next to the closet door.

"Your father got relocated."

 _Relocated?_

 _Relocated?!_

"What do you mean relocated?" Sakura asked, her voice rising a little. She could feel a bit of hysteria kick in.

"It means that your father got transferred to another location."

"You mean like a town away right? I have sports and I'm Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at school."

"No honey."

Sakura bit her lip as her breathing quickened a little.

"Well how far?" she asked, her rather large eyes wider than usual.

Her mother walked out of the closet and this time looked Sakura straight in the eye and didn't break eye contact.

"Your father has been transferred overseas. In France."

"France?" Sakura asked loudly. "France?! You're kidding me right?"

Her mother didn't say anything.

"But... But… I have friends here."

"Well you can make new friends, it'll be a good experience for you." Came her mother's reply. Sakura couldn't believe it. How could her mother be letting something like this happen to her? She was finally in the right clique in school, she had the right friends, she had even made the cheerleading squad that day and now it was all going straight into the trash because her father couldn't have a normal freaking job like all of her friends.

"I don't want to make new friends." Sakura said intensely.

"I don't know what to tell you honey."

"I'm staying."

Her mom came out of the closet and stood in front of her daughter, her hand resting on her hip.

"You're going."

"No, I can stay here. I'm sure one of my friends parents will let me live with them."

"You're going." She repeated.

"I haven't asked yet. You can't just say no!"

"I can. And you're going; there is no way I'd leave you in America when I'm across the ocean."

"But I haven't asked yet. I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Sakura." Her mother said sternly, "I said you are going. I put some boxes in your room, so if you can please start to pack up your books and trophies and things."

Sakura could feel her eyes burning. Why didn't her mom just freaking understand? She didn't want to move anywhere, she wanted to stay here. In this town, where it was home. She had lived here all her life, her father had never been relocated before, and all of a sudden that was happening now. She knew that he had been up for a promotion, but she hadn't thought that it would involve moving overseas and away from everyone that she knew and loved. What was she going to do without her best friends Brittani and Jasmine? Did France even have shopping malls? Where at in France would she be living? Don't get her wrong, she had always wanted to travel, but she hadn't thought she was going to do that until she had graduated high school. Didn't her mom know how hard it was to make friends? She had just found out that day that her crush had liked her back and now she had no idea how things would end up. She didn't want to leave.

She wanted to stay and by god she was going to find a way to do just that. Rushing out of her room she ran down the hallway and grabbed her phone off the hall table and went into the kitchen. All the way across the house from her mom she speed dialed her best friend. She couldn't even hold in the tears when her friend answered. She just burst out sobbing uncontrollably.

xxxxxxxx

Itachi had never been to Sakura's house before. He had only ever seen her at the café, and frankly he had assumed that she lived in some kind of one bedroom apartment. Not one of the historic houses that was located in the historical district in Konoha. Only really old money owned these kinds of houses, and they very rarely ever went up for sale. When they did the price was always a ridiculous amount. More than one of the houses in his part of the city, but whenever the houses did go up for sale they never stayed for long. It didn't matter the price, people always wanted to buy a piece of the past. To have one foot in that doorway, to have those bragging rights. He couldn't really blame them. If one came up for sale, he would really do some budgeting and attempt to buy one.

Their entire drive she had stared out of his car window. Condensation formed on the window, it had been a slightly dreary day that day. Might have been why he had gone out of his way to find the fuchsia haired girl. Might have been why he had been ignoring his fiancé all day as well. Rainy days always seemed to have a slightly negative effect on him. Always made him think of his life differently. Did he really want all of this? Did he want to be married to an heiress? Is Konoha where he wanted to be? Rainy days always made him feel trapped, but being around Pinkie over here seemed to make him feel like he was living a part of his life that he had ignored before. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he knew there was a big part of him fucking everything up.

Pulling into the long drive he couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise at the old manor. It was absolutely beautiful. He steered his black sedan into an empty space beside an orange car that he knew to be one of his good friends, and apparently one of Sakura's good friends as well. Itachi turned off his ignition, and Sakura hurriedly removed herself from the car with a laugh. He followed suit, and followed her into the backdoor, past a small garden that made him stop for a moment at. He didn't know many people who had a knack for gardening, or even liked getting their hands dirty for that matter. He continued behind him, without a hesitating glance behind him, and entered the glass back door.

Deidara and Kisame were hanging out in the kitchen waiting patiently for their friend to get there. They had only been there for maybe thirty minutes before she had texted them saying that she lost track of time and was now heading their way. One could only imagine their surprise when the owner of the house walked in through the back door with a thick book bag resting on her shoulder, with their enigmatic friend following semi close behind her. Both of the men shared a look as Itachi closed the door behind him.

"Well, would you look at that eh?" Deidara called, feeling a swell of pleasure as his friend's shoulders tensed up before finally relaxing and turning around to face him.

"Dei." Itachi replied with his famous stoic expression.

"Finally decided to get away from the wicked witch eh?" Dei asked with a broad smile on his face. Itachi glowered at him for a moment before transforming his face back to his usual blank look. Sakura smiled a bit as she eyed the two friends, before she eyed Kisame and squealed.

The pale man grinned as the small girl threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. They had been friends since the day that she had got a job at Deidara's café. Her mother had still been alive then. He had been there through the complete breakdown that she had gone through. So he couldn't help but feel a special connection towards her. He had always had a soft spot for her, and it slightly unsettled him that his friend Itachi was now hanging out with her. It was enough that his little brother was always around, giving the unknowing girls those gooey eyes that told him that they were starting to want more. As far as he was concerned the only relationship that the girl had had after her mother's passing and since she had graduated high school and entered university was with him. Although it was mostly kept it on the down low. He didn't really blame her though; he was years older than her. And he figured that she just needed someone during those times. Although he would prefer that she was with him all the time, but he couldn't be selfish. Even though it had been years since the death he knew that she still had trouble with people. Especially men, considering what her dad had done. He really couldn't blame her.

xxxxxxx

Hours passed by quickly before Itachi realized what time it was, and he was reminded that there was another world out there that he was securely in when he turned on his cell phone. He sat on the steps that led up to the back door that he had used when he first entered her house. Scrolling through his phone he sighed at all the missed calls and unread text messages that were from his fiancé. Shaking his head he swiped to the right of one of the messages and held the phone up to his ear, waiting for her to answer him.

It didn't take long for her high pitched yell to filter through the hand held device. Itachi closed his eyes in annoyance and just let the girl rant. After all it was close to Three in the morning, and the last time he had spoken to her she had been upset about something his mother had said while they had been dress shopping.

"I'm really sorry that I lost track of time Kimi." He replied into the receiver. "I was working on a big account. It means that I have to spend more time in the office at ridiculous hours. But hey if I can land this account we should be able to take that honeymoon that you've been talking about."

He knew what would calm her down. And usually that always involved the subject of money. And he was right because the shrill volume that she had answered with had dissolved into a soft purr of happiness. He stayed on the phone with her for a few more minutes, not realizing that towards the end of the call he had an audience.

Sakura had watched as he had left the kitchen and headed out side with his phone. Deidara had told her that it was probably so he could call the witch. Sakura had laughed at that, but she couldn't help but follow him out the back door. Leaving both of the men in the house to their own devices. She didn't worry much though, considering Kisame was already passed out on the couch from drinking too much alcohol that he had offered her constantly all the night. She had politely declined it though; she knew how she got whenever there was some liquid courage in her system. That was probably why Kisame was always calling her and wanting to hang out with her now. She had got drunk with him a few times and each time had ended in a way that she felt slightly ruined their friendship. She seemed to always make bad decisions whenever she drank, but she didn't really regret any of them.

She listened as Itachi promised that he would meet whoever was on the phone for lunch the next day. She leaned her head against the cool glass as she heard him tell the other person that he loved her and would see her later. She took that as her opportunity to slip out into the rather chilly air. She made her way toward him, her bare feet not making much of a sound against damp pavement.

Itachi looked up surprised as she sat down next to him on one of the steps. He gave her a half smile before scrolling through his phone again before hitting a button and turning off the bright screen.

"It's getting late." He said after a few moments of them sitting in silence.

"Yeah." She agreed, "Calling your fiancé?"

Itachi nodded slowly.

"I didn't realize how late it had gotten."

Sakura smiled slightly, "Yeah that happens to me all the time, usually when I'm up painting. I suck at timing."

He left out a slight chuckle.

"I know. You were late when we went to the arcade."

"I'm always late. Don't ever expect me to be on time." She said laughing as she elbowed him in his arm.

"Kimi is the same. But don't be late on her once or you won't hear the end of it."

She nodded; she could feel like there as something about their relationship that bothered him. It really wasn't that hard to tell. Considering she wasn't his fiancée and he was currently sitting outside of her house at three am, and he was just now getting ahold of the woman that he was supposed to be marrying in god knows how long.

"Are you and her okay?" Sakura asked after a few moments. Itachi just gave her a slight smile before looking up into the cloudy night sky. The clouds were moving semi fast so you were still able to randomly see the stars peek out from behind them.

"Were fine." He answered slowly, "I'm just not entirely sure."

"Sure about your marriage?"

He laughed while shaking his head.

"It sounds crazy."

"Well," Sakura started, carefully thinking up what she wanted to say. "It's not crazy. You can be stupid, you can be crazy, and honestly you can be anything. But just make sure that you are happy with what you are doing."

He stared blankly at the pinkette for a few moments before nodding his head rather quickly and changing the subject to her garden.

"So," he started nodding his head toward her garden. "It's not every day that I see someone is growing a garden."

Sakura laughed and agreed.

"You're completely right. My mom loved gardens; it seems to be a good coping mechanism. Or at least that's what all the doctors told my aunt after my mother passed away. So far so good though."

"How long ago did she pass?" He asked gingerly.

"It was back in high school." She said smiling. "I started the garden shortly after, when I finally moved into this house. It helped bring me back down to reality."

Itachi didn't know what to say, so he just nodded his head and rubbed the pink haired girl's shoulder, before asking her about what she liked to plant. They continued on with their conversation until the sun started to rise and Itachi decided that it was best that he left. As he got into his car and backed out and Sakura disappeared back into her massive house. He couldn't help but feel like something was changing in their friendship. He couldn't help but feel like he might be going a little too far. He didn't like lying, but he really didn't want to admit to anyone about his friendship to this girl. At least not just yet. Call him selfish.

xxxxxxx

Sasuke sat at the booth with his best friend and stared at his phone. The time was half past one and even though he knew that Sakura sucked with time management, she was later than usual. Naruto hadn't said much, he had been too busy chowing down on the complementary breadsticks that the server had brought over when they said they were waiting for another person. It was a nice restaurant, one of the more casual ones that he frequented. Usually he liked to go to the more formal ones, with the nice dishes and crystal ware. Those always had the best food, but he was the only one who really appreciated good food. Naruto was usually happy with just cup-o-ramen that he could just make at home in his microwave, and Sakura always preferred a juicy burger compared to some fancy plate that she swore they were ripping her off with. She always argued that they didn't serve her nearly enough food for the amount of money they charged. He didn't really understand, but Naruto always readily agreed. Of course he would though; those two were as thick as thieves.

"Is she coming?" Naruto asked from across the booth, Sasuke nodded before glancing back down at his phone.

"She said she was bringing someone with her, so that might be why she is late." Sasuke said hotly.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at his friend. One thing that Sasuke hated more than anything else was when someone was late; he was always upset with their pink haired friend. But Naruto knew that that anger never lasted that long. All Sakura had to do was flash one of her bright smiles at the dark haired man and everything would just drain away. He didn't know when it had happened. But his best friend had become enamored with his other best friend.

Sasuke eyes lit up slightly when he saw a pink flash, and his eyes widened when the girl that they had just been speaking about arrived at their table with a girl with long dark hair in tow.

Sakura smiled brightly, and quickly introduced the girl that she had brought with her. Her name was Hinata, and instantly he saw Naruto brighten up from where he was sitting. His blue eyes not moving away from the quiet girl that Sakura had just introduced as her math tutor. That had been why she was late, she had woken up late and then remembered at the last minute that she had to meet up with the girl so that she could at least pass her College Algebra exam. Sakura settled in the booth next to Sasuke as a blushing Hinata sat next to Naruto. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two of them. Naruto didn't look away and Hinata kept flashing glances at the blonde next to her.

They quickly ordered their food, as Naruto and Sakura talked animatedly. Hinata was slowly warming up to the young man beside her and she slowly started to get in on the conversation. Lunch went well and after they finished eating, and were getting ready to leave. Sakura and Sasuke stood outside as Naruto paid inside for Hinata. Sasuke shifted on his feet and turned to face his friend.

"So, Sakura." He started, getting the girls attention. "Would you go with me to my brother's wedding? I don't have a date and was wondering if you would like to go with me."

Sakura blinked a few times, before answering slowly.

"You mean Itachi's wedding?"

xxxxxxx

It was evening when Sakura had finally arrived home. And for once there had been no one there when she walked into the old quiet house. She quickly turned the deadbolt on her back door, the one lock that no one had a key to but her, and made her way upstairs. Stopping in the kitchen only to drop her phone and keys on the countertop. Today hadn't exactly been the best day, she could feel the depression starting to set in, the way it usually did during this time of year. It was really close to the anniversary to when her mother had passed away. Usually it wasn't so bad, but her father had been writing to her more and more lately, wanting to speak to her in person because he and his new wife were visiting Konoha for business. She knew when he left that he would probably move on. But she hadn't thought that he would have moved on so fast. There had been worries from her grandparents that he had been sleeping around on her mother, cheating on her during her last few months that she was alive, bedridden in one of the upstairs bedroom. Sakura's dad had been absent a lot during that time, something that her Aunt Tsunade had been pissed about and still held a grudge against.

She really couldn't blame her though. Caroline was Tsunade's best friend, before Caroline had Sakura and everything changed for the worse. Or so that was how Tsunade described it. Sakura walked up the stairs to the second landing and headed toward the room at the end of the hallway. Slowly she opened the bedroom door and walked into the musty room. She flipped the light switch and looked around the room. This was where she always came whenever she was feeling particularly sad. Dust covered the bookshelves that lined the left wall. An old television sat on top of a desk that her mother had used as a teenager. The fuchsia haired girl walked deeper in the room and walked toward where the dusty bed was located. She sat on the mattress gingerly and looked at the books that her mother used to have her read and smiled at the easel that was still in the corner of the room, just waiting to be brought out and used again. Her mother had gifted her that as well, the Christmas before she learned that she was sick. Sakura remembered the Christmas well. That was their first Christmas in France, after the big move. She had still been so angry at her mother. She had been angry with her mother up until the day they moved to Japan and into her grandparents' house. Where she had been left by her father to take care of her suddenly ailing mother, in a country that she didn't know the language, her only way of communicating with other locals had been because her Aunt Tsunade had helped teach her the language, as well as her mother. Naruto had helped a lot during that time, he knew English better than most of the other kids, and he had helped her become more integrated in society. Her mother didn't last long after the move though, when she started to spiral it was a fast spiral. And even though it had been at least five years since her passing, Sakura couldn't help herself as she felt tears start to well up in her eyes, causing her vision to blur. She ran her hand along the old comforter and slowly lowered herself to the pillow that smelled more of dust than of her mother. She blinked away the tears, letting them fall down her cheeks as she reached out her hand and stroked the model of an automobile that was clumsily put together.

* * *

AN: I'm baaaaaaack. Did you miss me?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

* * *

"We want answers but we're afraid to ask. Sometimes the truth hurts and so we lie to ourselves."

* * *

Sasuke couldn't get it out of his head. Her answer back at the restaurant. It had been a few days since then but for some reason he couldn't understand why she knew about his elder brothers upcoming wedding. Sasuke sighed to himself and sat up in his massive bed. The blankets were strewn about; he didn't usually bother with making his bed. Besides he had read somewhere that keeping a messy room showed that the person was exceptionally smart. Made sense, considering whenever he was younger and snuck into Itachi's room it was a complete pigsty.

For the amount of clutter that was in that room, he was completely amazed by how well organized his brothers apartment was. He had originally thought it was because Kimi was an exceptionally neat person. But he knew that was a lie when he saw the kitchen after that girl had tried to make dinner for the family awhile back. He had actually been impressed that Itachi had followed behind her and cleaned up the mess. He knew his mother was very appreciative about it.

There had been an argument between the two of them that night about it as well. Kimi had thought that since it wasn't her place, then she didn't have to clean up. She was giving them the gift of her half burnt chicken so the least that his family could do was clean up the mess. Mikoto had been pissed that night, and Itachi had to say goodbye early to take his future wife home before there was a huge outburst. Never from his mother, but more from the young girl who had felt offended.

She was always offended.

And if Itachi was hanging out with Sakura, then he knew for sure there would be a massive fight. Sakura didn't exactly just hang out with people. He was pretty sure there were always strings attached, or at least that's what he has heard through the grapevine. There were quite a few of his friends and even new acquaintances that would smile when her name came up and all they would say was that she was a good time.

The only one who never really commented on Sakura's rather colorful past was Naruto. Probably because he had been there the entire time. Sasuke hadn't come into the whole friendship until years after everything happened. But he knew about everything. All the way from her mother passing away, and her father just up and leaving siting that he couldn't handle the emotions. Sasuke had thought at the time that that was pretty callous. And if he had thought that was insensitive when he himself was practically an ice king then it was pretty bad. He had always thought that she had kept up her appearances pretty well. She always came to school; he remembered she had struggled for quite some time until she had finally got the hang of their language.

But it was after her mother had passed away that the rumors really started up. She and Naruto became even more inseparable and there had been rumors running around school that they were an item even though people had seen them with other people. He knew later on that she had befriended some huge party girl named Ino from a neighboring town. He only knew that because he had hooked up with that girl a few times.

Sasuke reached for his cell phone on his black side table. Sliding his thumb across the screen he slowly made his way toward his brothers contact information. Quickly he swiped left and started the text message:

 **Hey, have you been hanging out with Sakura? She mentioned you today, and I didn't know that you knew her.**

Sasuke hit send before dropping his phone back down to the table. He highly doubted that his brother would actually respond to him. That was just the way he was. Standing up, he lifted his arms up and stretched out, purring as his muscles relaxed themselves. He tilted his neck to the side and popped his neck while he was at it, and then headed toward his bedroom door. He had plans for the day that didn't include sitting in his rather comfy bed. He grabbed a lone black shirt that was lying on the floor, sniffing it once before pulling it over his head.

Sasuke made it downstairs only to hear the voice of the one woman that he would rather not be around. Considering he was somewhat of a ladies man that said a lot about him. But this was Kimi. A girl that he wouldn't even touch if she were single. He had dated enough girls like that to know that he didn't want that type of relationship. One that only revolved around money and fame. He really wasn't about that life, and it was one of the very few reasons why he was happy that he was the younger son. He didn't have to worry too much about appearances. He would never become the head of the family.

He was almost out of the door when the unmistakable voice of his elder brother's fiancée called for him. He stopped and inhaled deeply, his eyes closed preparing himself for the inevitable. He hated having conversations with this girl. Exhaling he turned around and raised his eyebrow. The less he spoke, the better.

"Hey little brother." She said smiling with one of those somewhat fake smiles. One of those smiles where you knew she wanted something. Sasuke raised both of his eyes brows at the 'little brother' she had added. Hey would have been just fine.

"Not your little brother." He said blankly. His whole body was stiff; he really wanted this to be over pretty fast.

"Oh well not yet."

Sasuke nodded. Not really sure what else he should say. He raised his hand to wave, so that he could go ahead and leave but she stopped him.

"Oh wait!" She called, "I have a question for you."

He turned around again and gave her his full attention. There was no point in ignoring the girl when she wanted information. Considering all of his encounters with her in the past, it only got worse when you didn't do what she wanted.

"I know you and you're brother aren't close." She started, and Sasuke had to keep himself but chuckling.

 _That was the understatement of the year._

"But Itachi hasn't been around lately. He's been staying later at work, I asked your mom and she said that there was no big projects or anything that he had been working on. So I was wondering if you knew what was going on." She continued.

Sasuke's face stayed stoic as the conversation that he had with Sakura went through his mind. Was something going on?

"You got me. I don't know anything about his life." He responded after a few seconds.

Kimi nodded slowly, before smiling a weak smile. She thanked him and turned around and went back into the other room to more than likely continue wedding planning with her friends and his mom.

Sasuke turned around and walked out the door and to his car, but not before checking his phone. The light was blinking saying that he had a new message. Quickly he unlocked it and read the message from his brother.

 **Who?**

Sasuke called bullshit.

Xxxxxxx

Deidara had the café for the past ten years, about 6 years before he actually met the fuchsia haired girl that he had come to adore as a little sister. She had worked for him up until she had decided to attend the University a few blocks away. She sometimes would still pick up shifts when he really needed someone, but he tended to make her study for her classes instead.

Her main focus was art; the girl was ridiculously talented when it came to paint on canvases. She wasn't stupid though, she also was taking courses for business. And here lately the math courses were killing her, but it seemed like she is getting the help she needs, and it was from none other than one of his best friends.

Their relationship slightly bothered Dei. Itachi had always been this reclusive fellow. His engagement to Kimi had been arranged by his father, so that he could make him happy. He would be the head of the family once he married, as well as being on his way to being president of the family company. He could see how the upcoming marriage could be hitting the poor guy hard. Considering he knew that Itachi never had any intention of being in a serious relationship. If the guy could just be a bachelor for the rest of his life, then it would be like Christmas for him.

Deidara welcomed a customer that had just entered his café. A bright smile on his face as they greeted him back with warm smiles and head into the back where his two friends were currently located. They had been meeting there where they first met every day for the past three weeks. Slowly getting closer and closer to each other.

He knew Sakura though. He knew how she was, and her closeness with the dark haired Uchiha was bound to make people uncomfortable. Bound to catch the attention of the overly jealous Kimi. It already made Kisame uncomfortable, but him and Sakura had a few drunken nights together. He knew she never meant anything by it; she just seemed to handle her emotions with that sort of escape. But he knew from experience how hard it was to say no to the girl. Especially whenever she got drunk or whenever she started to spiral. Since it was so close to the anniversary, and from the letters that she was telling him about coming from her father he knew that it wasn't going to be long before something was bound to happen.

Deidara made his way over to their table. Sakura was smiling brightly, her perfect smile making her radiant. A guy would be crazy to say no to the girl, Kisame had a hard time; Naruto for sure had a rough time. He hoped Itachi had more common sense to resist her.

"Well, how's everything going eh?" Deidara asked as leaned against the table that they were both working on.

"I officially still do not understand how this math will ever come in handy in my life." Sakura sighed, but with a smile still plastered on her face. Her eyes never leaving the man who sat next to her.

"If you plan on going into business, it's actually used." Itachi murmured as he worked out a problem for her.

He just hoped that it didn't go too far. He knew how Itachi was when it came to females, and he knew how Sakura was when it came to men. They were the worst match possible.

Xxxxxxx

Country clubs weren't really Sakura's thing. They never had been and she always felt completely out of place whenever she did go to them with Naruto. This was where she had lunch with Mikoto a few times when she and Sasuke had first become friends. The places that she liked to frequent were quite grittier than this. She hated dressing in nice clothes and heels. She didn't like looking like she used to look, that was a part of her past. But she knew that lately she had been putting Sasuke off. And with him being even more annoying than usual about his brother and hers relationship, she decided that it was the least she could do when he invited her out to lunch with his family. Besides Itachi had been busy, and all of her plans lately had been revolving around that guy.

She knew what people had been thinking. She was notorious for this kind of thing. The whole befriending a guy, spending all her time with him and then moving on. She used to be pretty bad about it, now shed basically hook up with only a few guys. Guys that she had already been with so that she didn't have to raise her number. Although she had to admit that when it came to Itachi she really wouldn't mind bumping it up one. But she respected the fact that he had a fiancée, even though she knew he was unhappy. He wouldn't come right out and say it, but she knew. It wasn't her place to talk to him about it though. She was just there for him, kind of like how he had been there for her. Just his presence made things a bit easier.

It was rare when you meet someone where you instantly just connect with them. You just feel like they are meant to be a part of your life. She didn't want to lose the guy, they did nothing but sit around and study and talk about American TV shows (all her favorites). She didn't understand why she needed to let everyone else know about their relationships. From the way that Deidara had been watching them closely at the café and the way Sasuke had been blowing up her phone recently, she was starting to wonder if she needed to be more discreet about their relationship. She didn't want to mess with anyone, but she really wanted everyone to leave her alone. They were just friends, and that was it.

Sakura stumbled into the main foyer of the club, her eyes darting back and forth making sure that no one had seen that rather embarrassing slip up. She was really not cut out for this shit. She stood off to the side and pulled out her phone, sending a message to Sasuke saying that she was there. Usually he was waiting for her the moment she walked in. He knew better than anyone else that she was hopeless on finding her way through places like this. Plus she was in heels; she could really use his arm. Shed appreciate that. He wanted her to dress nice and out of her comfort zone so the least he could do was lend her his damn arm.

She stood there for a few moments before she heard footsteps approaching her. She looked up and her jaw dropped slightly open.

 _He was supposed to be busy today._

Itachi stood there in front of her, his eyes questioning why she was all dressed up and standing in front of him. She looked him over and noticed that he was dressed in his usual suit; except he wasn't wearing his typical tie and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His hair was still pulled back in a low pony tail instead of her favorite man bun. But he still looked more casual than what she had seen him in since the day they went to the arcade.

"Hello." She said slowly, fully aware of how she was presented in front of him. Her white dress was lace and she was pretty sure that he was surprised that she even owned something as feminine as that. And her make up wasn't as dramatic as usual, just a small bit. Emphasized on her eyes, she had put on false eyelashes. Her shoes, she actually loved even though it was hard to walk in them. She reminded herself of a baby goat when walking in them for too long. Since it was just lunch, she was pretty sure she would be fine. An arm would still be nice to latch onto though.

"Nice dress." He murmured his dark eyes a little darker than normal. She couldn't really make eye contact with him, not while looking like this. She felt like the girl that he knew wasn't who was standing in front of him.

"You were busy today." She responded with a small smile on her face.

Itachi slid his hands into his pants pockets and shrugged his shoulders.

"Lunch with the family today."

She closed her eyes and smiled while shaking her head.

"Of course." She murmured dryly.

"Sakura?" a voice called from a distance.

She turned toward the voice and her eyes widened slightly, Sasuke was heading this way and his eyes were eyeing the two of them. As if he needed to see her and Itachi alone. Talking as if they knew each other, even though they did.

"Hey." She said with a soft smile, reaching out for his arm. Her feet were starting to hurt.

"I see you've met my brother." He said with a frown.

"Yes." Was all she could say, she could still feel Itachi's eyes on her. And she knew that Sasuke was glaring at him, it would just be best if they got to their mother. She didn't want to be next to these brothers especially when one didn't like the other, and the other could care less.

"Come on Sasuke, let's go get some food," She said softly taking his attention away from his brother. "I'm hungry."

He gave her a tight smile before nodding, throwing his brother one last incomprehensible look before leading her toward where his family was sitting.

Sakura had expected just Sasuke's mother for lunch, but she was slowly becoming aware that today wasn't the case. She felt Itachi follow them toward the patio where his mother was already patiently waiting, along with a dark haired beauty queen. If she would have known that Itachi and his fiancée Kimi would be joining them for lunch then she would have declined the invitation right away. But leave it to Sasuke to leave out that type of important information.

Sakura smiled in greeting when Mikoto turned toward her and greeted her. Kimi on the other hand just scrutinized her. She felt the other females eyes go up and down her body and then settle on her bright hair. Sakura had decided that the best thing she could do with her rather unconventional hair was to just put it up in a neat bun on the top of her head. She knew that her blonde roots were starting to show, she really needed to touch up the pink. Lately it hadn't been nearly as bright as it was when she first met Itachi.

"How are you Mrs. Uchiha?" Sakura asked politely as she settled in her chair to the left of Sasuke. Her seat being right next to the matriarch of the family.

"I'm fine dear," The older woman replied with a sincere smile on her face, she patted Sakura's hand and continued. "I see you have colored your beautiful blonde hair."

"I did." Sakura nodded, she felt really out of place. Everyone was staring at her, Itachi's gaze being the most intense.

"You're natural hair color is blonde?" Itachi asked, causing the table to shift their attention to him.

Sakura nodded again before trying to change the subject to something different.

Lunch went by with not much of a problem, she could still feel Itachi's gaze on her the entire time. And she was quite sure that Mikoto and Kimi had taken notice of it. Kimi had been sweet and chatty the entire time with her. Going on and on about how her and Itachi met, and what kind of wedding she was planning. Sakura went along with it easily enough. It wasn't the first time she had talked wedding with someone. Her best friend Britnei from back in the states had already gotten married to her high school sweetheart; they had a baby on the way. They had kept in touch after Sakura had moved away, and she used to stay up late just calming the other girl and vetoing wedding ideas.

"I do wish that you would have been there when I went to look for a wedding dress!" Kimi exclaimed as Sakura listed some of her personal favorite designers.

"Instead I went with a bunch of people who didn't understand a thing about fashion." She continued, Sakura's eyebrows shot up as she spoke, she could feel Mikoto tense up, and caught the look that she threw at her oldest son. Itachi didn't say anything, but she knew he understood the look because he sat up straighter.

"Well honestly," Sakura said cutting off Kimi. "I feel like having people who don't know anything about designers can offer even better insight. No one is paying attention to who you are wearing. They just want to see your glow."

"You're completely right!" Kimi agreed quickly, "I feel very lucky to have who I had with me, but I'm just saying you would have been very much appreciated."

xxxxxxx

When the guest for lunch, Sakura, first arrived. Kimi was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected some slightly punk girl to show up in a rather dated outfit. She had expected a more traditional girl to show up on Sasuke's arm.

This was the girl that Sasuke had asked to the wedding. She could see them being a couple. They would be cute, even cuter if the girl would take out that ridiculous color in her hair. From what Mikoto had said she had originally been a blonde. She had no idea why someone with natural light blonde hair would want to dye her hair that obnoxious color.

She was pretty sure she was the only person who felt this way about the girl though. The looks that both Sasuke and Itachi were giving her made her think that something was a bit off. Itachi had been out of it lately, staying out way later than normal and saying he always had to work through lunch. But she had asked both his mother and father, and even Sasuke about it. Itachi had been lying to her, because there wasn't a big account that Itachi was working on. And she had found out through the grape vine that Itachi had been frequenting a hipster café near the University. Which was completely unlike him, she had never known for the guy to drive that far across town to go get a sandwich. He usually would just go across the street or go to lunch with some colleagues.

Kimi watched as Itachi engaged in conversation with the girl, much to the annoyance of Sasuke. This was also unlike him. The Sakura girl and Itachi were able to hold a conversation like they had been doing it for years.

Xxxxxx

Itachi had gotten hell when he finally went home with Kimi that night of the lunch. She had caught him staring at Sakura and had instantly thought something was up. It took forever to finally calm her down and tell her that there was nothing going on between the two of them. That he was just being polite. In all honesty she had completely thrown him. He had half expected her to show up to be Sasuke's guest. But he had expected her to show up in her normal attire. He wasn't prepared for the way she arrived. Not once in the past few months of knowing the girl, he had ever seen her in a dress or heels. He had always thought that she had probably bleached her hair to get that bright color, but instead she had naturally pale blonde hair. He learned quite a few things about her that day.

Learned a few things about his brother as well, the main one being that his brother was infatuated with the girl, who was supposed to be one of his best friends. Itachi assumed it was because she only saw him as a friend. Both he and his brother always tended to like to prove people wrong. Especially women who said they weren't interested in them. He knew that was exactly what Sasuke was doing. Itachi knew though, he knew that Sakura wasn't interested in his younger brother. Only because she had mentioned it a few times.

They had decided after that lunch to start hanging out at her house instead. Mostly because Kimi had mentioned that she had friends who had seen him there with some girl. He really didn't want to deal with what people thought. He was allowed to have friends that everyone didn't know about. He was a good ten years older than this girl, so what if he hung out with her. His friends did it all the time but no one said anything about it. But that was probably because he was the head of a huge company, whereas Kisame and Deidara owned a café attached to an art gallery.

Itachi sat at the island as he watched Sakura scurry around the kitchen putting together something to eat. And from the smell of it, she was making something glorious. He had heard that she was an amazing cook but this was one of the first times of him actually tasting her food. Last couple times they had hung out at her house they had ordered take out. This was also one of the first times of them being alone together, whereas Deidara and Kisame had been with them before.

"Done!" Sakura said excitedly, as she whipped herself around to face him. She had an adorable smile on her face.

Itachi stretched and got up from where he had been sitting. Today had been his day off, and he had told his Fiancée that he was going out with the guys, that hadn't been exactly a lie, he had went and hung out with his old gang for the first time in forever earlier before Sakura had gotten out of class and texted him. He hadn't told any of them where he was going, but he knew a couple of them had an idea.

He made his way toward where the smaller girl was standing, she had invited him over to watch some of her favorite shows, he really couldn't say no. Especially since it had been so long since he had just hung out with a friend, ate good food and watched ridiculous shows. She had one of her favorite American sit coms that she wanted to watch with him. He wasn't big into English television shows, but she had been so excited when she told him about it he really couldn't help but to agree.

He let out a laugh as the pinkette pulled a chair over to grab some bowls from her cabinets. She grumbled something about making Naruto put up the dishes under her breath.

"You know, I could just get those for you." Itachi said as he opened the fridge to get a drink.

"No." She huffed, "You're a guest, and Naruto is a bastard for putting these up to high."

"Come on, just get down from there." He said, setting his drink down on the counter. He made his way over to her just in time for the chair to slip out from underneath her. Her body crashed into his, and his arms instinctively caught her with ease.

Their faces were inches apart, and they both just stared at each other. The bowls on the top shelf momentarily forgotten. They had been around each other for quite some time but neither had ever actually made contact with the other. Itachi's hand slid down her body and gripped her thigh. Sakura's breathe hitched, as he backed her up into the counter.

Sakura ran her hand up his arm, breaking eye contact for a moment. Watching as her fingers caused goose bumps in their wake. She felt his hand tighten on her hip, making eye contact with him again; his face was closer than before. Itachi couldn't help himself; it had been a long time since just contact with someone had sent him into a crazy tail spin. He lowered his head slightly and pressed his lips against her in a chaste kiss.

The food completely forgotten now, Itachi pulled his face away from hers and rested his forehead against hers. He could feel her hand on her shoulder, creeping its way to the back of his neck. She opened her deep green eyes and gave him a devious smile, before entangling her fingers in his hair and pulled his face back towards her in a rushed movement.

She bit his bottom lip as they attached to each other. She had taken him slightly by surprise. He hadn't exactly expected her to react like that, but he wasn't really complaining. It had been a long time since something like this had happened. He picked her up off the counter and pulled her flush against his body. Their lips still connected, their tongues dancing against each other. His hands grabbed at her ass and squeezed, and she pressed her chest into him. He leaned against the counter, and then turned and pushed her into the wall, taking complete control over her.

Sakura let out a light moan as he broke away from her lips and kissed down her neck, his hands still gripping her legs. He pressed his body into hers, and she pulled at his shirt. Breaking away from her, he removed his hands from underneath her legs, his body pressing hers against the wall, her legs wrapped around his body for support. He pulled his t-shirt off quickly, and leaned back down to finish what he started.

It was at that moment that they both lost track of everything, getting lost in the feeling of each other's bodies. His hands snaked under her blouse and with expert fingers unclasped her bra with one hand. Sakura was going to rip off her shirt when there was a loud bang on her back door.

Almost as if burned the pair ripped apart from each other, both panting they stared at each other until there came another bang at the door. Hurriedly Itachi reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head. Sakura reclasped her bra. Panting she straightened her clothes out before walking over to the back door to unlock the deadbolt.

Naruto stood on the other side of with a big smile on his face that quickly turned into a concerned frown.

"Sakura? Are you okay?"

"Yup!" She answered quickly, almost too quickly. She was still out of breath and her body felt quaky from what had just happened between her and Itachi. Naruto looked at her for a moment before sliding past her to walk into the kitchen. She cursed under her breath and shut the door.

She quickly followed behind him, and cursed again internally when Naruto stopped and stared at Itachi who was standing in her kitchen stirring the food that they had previously forgotten on the stove.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, confused by the presence of Itachi in his best friends kitchen. He hadn't known that they had known each other. Sasuke had mentioned it in passing that he thought they knew each other, but thought that he might just be overthinking things. But in that moment that Naruto entered the spacious kitchen, Sasuke's older brother leaning against the counter. Sakura flushed and breathing heavily. He knew. She knew that he knew. She knew by the way his body tensed up and then his face drained of color.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" He asked slowly, looking at both Itachi and Sakura.

Sakura didn't say anything, she was stiff. She had just been caught.

"No you aren't, I was just about to leave." Itachi said smoothly from where he was standing. Sakura's eyes widened as he turned off the burner to the food and maneuvered over to where his jacket laid. Naruto watched him with careful eyes as he picked up the jacket and shrugged his on. He walked past the pair, nodded at Naruto, making eye contact with Sakura before telling them both bye and walking out the back door.

"Sakura…"Naruto said gently, "what's going on?"

She shook her head not making eye contact with him.

"Nothing."

Xxxxx

It had been a few days since the incident in the kitchen with Sakura, and Itachi hadn't gotten ahold of her. The most he's said to her has been that he was busy and wasn't able to hang out. She hadn't said much to him either. It was like they were both coming to terms with what had happened. He knew that neither had meant for it to happen like that. Before he could have sworn up and down that they were nothing but friends, but that few minutes in the kitchen when they both had almost wound up with all their clothes off and writhing against each other told him something different.

It didn't help that that was the time that Naruto had decided to visit. He had cursed the blond so hard when he knocked. At that moment in time all Itachi wanted to do was make the girl that was flush against him scream. It was like taking a dozen steps backwards into his college days. He had changed so much since he had become engaged to Kimi; he quit hooking up with random girls at the clubs. Had stopped hanging out with his single friends who always wanted to party. Completely cut off his cousin Shisui because of it. But he felt himself wanting to get back in touch with everything that he had left behind. And if he were to be honest with himself, he would admit that this had been coming for some time. He had been slowly changing since he started to hang around the younger girl. He didn't know if it was because she was so young, or if it was just him wanting something different.

Itachi tossed his keys in the air and caught them with ease as he walked toward the restaurant that his mother had requested to meet him at. It was on the opposite side of town that he thought she was used to. It was actually pretty close to Sakura's house, set nicely in the historic district. He walked into the bright building and located his mother with ease. The place wasn't that busy, and he had a feeling that was why his mother had selected it.

He eased into the chair opposite of his mother, setting his keys down on the table. His mother watched him closely as he ordered water from the server that came over to greet him. Once the server walked away to fulfill his request, she quickly got to her point.

"So how long have you been seeing her?"

Itachi raised his eyebrows before turning his face into stoic picture.

"Hello mother." He replied smoothly.

"How long have you been seeing Sakura?" She asked again, this time elaborating.

Itachi didn't respond, as the server came back over to the table and sat his water down at the table. He quickly told him that it would be a bit before he ordered, and the man disappeared into the back of the house. He scratched his face before taking a drink of water.

"Itachi this is important." She said sternly.

He nodded slowly before setting the glass back down on the table.

"I get that. But I am not seeing Sakura."

His mother looked at him unconvinced.

"I saw the way you looked at her. I saw the way she looked at you, there is something going on between the both of you. And I asked you to come here today to stop whatever it is."

"Mother."

"Son."

Itachi rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Nothing is going on between Sasuke's friend and me." He said again, slightly irritated.

Mikoto eyed him warily as she picked up her tea and took a sip.

"I hope you are right." She said, still not completely believing her eldest son. But dropped the subject none the less as she waived the server over to their table to order lunch.

Xxxxx

Naruto rummaged through his cabinets at his house, looking for at least one more bowl of ramen. Sasuke sitting at the table with his chin resting on the palm of his hand watching him, bored.

"You really should go shopping." He dark haired Uchiha murmured.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he opened another cabinet and went through that one.

"Idiot, just call for take out." Sasuke said bored at his spot.

Naruto moved away from his cabinets and sighed in defeat as he reached for his phone and called for delivery.

When the food finally got to the small apartment, both Naruto and Sasuke were lounging on the couches each taking turns while playing a game. So far it was Sasuke's turn. Naruto sat there for a moment his mind taking him back to the night that he caught Itachi and Sakura up to something in her kitchen. He hadn't told anyone about it but it concerned him a bit. Itachi was engaged to get married and he knew how quickly Sakura could get attached to someone. He didn't want Itachi to have his one last hoorah and then leaving the poor girl. There had been enough people to have done that. That was one thing that no one else seemed to understand about her. They had all seen that she had went through people, but each time she severed or the other person severed their relationship with her things would always spiral for her.

The few times that he had been in a relationship had ended horribly, because it always seemed that was when she really needed him. And their relationship was so strange. The way that they both sort of used each other. Neither complained, and they had agreed years ago to not talk about it to anyone else.

Naruto sat with his legs crossed as he watched the character on the screen slash into another.

"Hey bastard?" Naruto started, looking over at his friend.

"Hn." Came his only reply. The typical reply that someone could get out of the younger Uchiha.

"Your brother is getting married right?" The blonde asked, watching the darker haired young man out of the corner of his eye.

Sasuke paused the game and sat up from where he was lying. He sat the controller down next to him and scratched his neck before turned to face his friend.

"Yes. Why?" He asked cautiously.

Naruto nodded before opening his mouth to respond,

"I saw him over at Sakura's house. Did you know they were friends?"

Sasuke didn't say anything for a moment as he sat there taking in what Naruto had just said. He blinked once and then twice before he cursed.

"I fucking knew it."

"It looked like they were getting really close, so I didn't know if your brother had broken off his engagement or what." Naruto said slowly.

"Fuck." Sasuke cursed again, "It's every fucking time. I swear."

Naruto didn't say anything as his friend stood up from the couch and paced the room.

"He told me he didn't know her. I knew something was off. Every time I make it known I like someone he just has to sweep in and ruin everything."

Naruto watched as Sasuke flipped out his phone and speed dialed his brother's number, waited a few moments and then threw his phone at the floor.

"He's such a fucking liar."

Xxxxx

She hadn't had any contact with anyone for quite a few days. She was still reeling from that kiss that she shared with Itachi. She hadn't known that he could kiss like that, she had always known that she was attracted to him, but this was the first time that they had ever done anything like that. He hadn't really spoken to her after it had happened, just sent her a couple texts telling her that he had been busy, and wouldn't be able to meet up for a few days. Well those few days had passed and she still hadn't heard from him, and she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted too. What would happen if they met up again?

She's no stranger to sex, but she has never entered this world where she almost hooked up with a guy that was in a relationship that she KNEW about. This was bad. Really really bad.

"Oh god this place is as bad as I thought." Came a high pitched voice from a few feet from Sakura.

The neon haired girl looked up from her book that she hadn't been paying attention too for the past few hours and widened her eyes when she saw who was standing close to her looking out the massive window that her and Itachi had first met each other at. Kimi was standing there with her manicured hand placed delicately on her hip, her long black hair impossibly shiny and huge black sunglasses resting on her nose hiding her eyes from the world. No one would know that this high society girl and fiancée of Itachi Uchiha was standing in a café that was worlds away from her life style.

Sakura looked around her and watched as other patrons of the restaurant looked at the well-dressed girl in curiosity and disgust. Most of the people who frequented here liked it because they didn't run into girls like this one. Sakura sat her pencil down on the table and called over to the girl,

"Kimi, what are you doing here?"

The girl in question spun her head toward where Sakura's voice had come from. A smirk grew on the girls painted mouth and she walked over to where Sakura was sitting. She brushed off the seat in annoyance and then gingerly sat down on the stool to the right of the bright haired girl.

"Oh Sakura!" She said gleefully, "I didn't know you frequented this…." She said slowly, eyeing the décor of the place. "This place."

Sakura nodded,

"Yes, it's down the road from my school. It's a comfortable place to work on my homework."

"I see." Kimi said, taking off her sunglasses. Her perfectly lined eyes scanning her surroundings again. "I don't understand why Itachi is always here, this is definitely not up to his standards."

"I didn't know he had high standards." Sakura laughed, and looked back down at her text book. She had been rereading the same line in it for the past few hours. She sighed and decided to just close the book. She wasn't going to get any work done today. Especially now.

Kimi raised her eye brow at Sakura's comment but shrugged it off.

"So you know my fiancée right?" Kimi asked as she fidgeted with her sunglasses.

Sakura only nodded in response, trying to figure out in her head what this girl was trying to say.

"Well, as you know, we have been having issues." She started, and Sakura nodded going along with her. Taking a deep drink of her coffee that is resting in front of her. "I think he is cheating on me."

Sakura sputtered for a moment, and hurriedly swallowed. Choking a bit, she hit her chest.

"Cheating huh?" She said quickly, almost too quickly as Kimi raised her perfect eye brow high up into her hair line.

"Yes," She said slowly, eyeing the pink haired girl.

"Why do you think that?" She asked, pushing her coffee mug away. If they were going to talk about that then she really shouldn't drink anymore. There was too much of a chance of her choking to death.

"He just isn't at home as much." Kimi said nonchalantly. "What would you do if you thought your boyfriend was cheating on you?"

Sakura shrugged.

"I don't know I've never been in that position."

"You've never had a boyfriend? No relationship?" Kimi asked shocked.

"Well I've had my fair share of relationships. But never anything serious." Came Sakura's reply.

"Hmm."

"Maybe you should talk to him about it." Sakura suggested lightly, honestly she was going to say anything at this point to get away from this girl. She felt way to awkward talking about her fiancée that she had just been making out with in her kitchen a few days ago.

Kimi just rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes we want answers to things but we're afraid to ask them." Sakura said slowly, Kimi looked over at her, her brown eyes making contact with Sakura's green ones. "Sometimes the truth hurts and so we lie to ourselves."

Kimi nodded and pursed her lips.

* * *

AN: Sup everyone.  
So I actually had someone comment and say that they think that there will be a lot of complication in the relationship that Sakura has with Itachi. That is the point. So yes, everyone seems horrible in a way. But I promise I'll give you more background to everyone as the story progresses. You'll eventually understand why Sakura is the way that she is, and understand where everyone else is coming from.


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